Laura Loomer, a right-wing social media personality and adviser to Donald Trump, was forced to defend herself during a trip to New Delhi after a journalist read her anti-Indian tweets back to her at an event.
At the India Today Conclave on Saturday, journalist Rajdeep Sardesai presented a series of deleted tweets in which Loomer made disparaging remarks about India and its people. Loomer initially apologised, saying she should not have said some of the things she did, but later maintained her criticism of the H-1B visa programme and made Islamophobic statements.
Loomer told the conference she had just spoken to Trump and read out a message she claimed was from the president: 'I love India. I love Modi and I love the Indian people.' She also said she believes 'Islam is a cancer on the world' and that 'Islamophobia is not real,' adding that it should be illegal for Muslims to hold office in the US.
Sardesai accused Loomer of being 'brazenly racist and Islamophobic,' saying her comments represented 'anti-Indianism, worse still Islamophobia, and even worse racism.' Loomer insisted her comments about Kamala Harris were 'pro-Indian,' claiming Harris had downplayed her Indian heritage during the election.
After the event, Loomer shared a video allegedly showing Muslims in India surrounding a Sikh restaurant and demanding halal food, writing: 'Islam has no place in the West. Should Muslims be allowed to terrorize Sikhs who refuse to sell halal food?'
